The Playboy's Princess (23 page)

Jade’s phone beeped, but she didn’t dare reach for it. Instead, she hoped it wasn’t something important and tried to keep as still as possible. Her reflection in the mirror was changing. Her skin looked smooth, as if it glowed from the inside. Her lips were glossed without being showy, and her eyes looked large and catlike. She’d expected to look just like she did at work, but she didn’t. She wore a lot of makeup to become Ariel, but this wasn’t makeup for photos, this was makeup to look beautiful, and it made a difference.

As she stared at her reflection, she actually felt more like a princess than when she was dressed as one walking around Disneyland’s parks.

“All right. Are you happy?” Victoria asked, stepping back and chewing on the end of her powder brush.

“It looks lovely. Thank you.”

Jade went back to the room her friends were in and saw that Pam’s hair was finished and Clare was in the hot seat, flirting shamelessly with Jared.

“Do I need to remind you that you’re a newlywed, Clare?” Jade joked.

Jared laughed. “Don’t worry, honey, I am
so
not interested.”

“Hey!” Clare said. “I’m not flirting.”

“You are,” Jared laughed. “And I’m sorry, but you’re not my type.”

Jade put her hand over her mouth to stop the outburst of laughter she felt bubbling up inside her and then cringed, hoping she hadn’t smudged her lipstick.

“I might be interested in your husband, though.” He gave Clare a wink, and she giggled.

“You look gorgeous, Jade,” Pam said. “All that’s left to do is put the dress on and walk down the aisle.”

“Yep, I guess that’s all.” Jade tried to put some enthusiasm into her voice but couldn’t. She had no idea how Drew was feeling about all this. They hadn’t spoken to each other since his drunken call during her bachelorette party. He’d gotten back from Las Vegas the night before, but of course her friends wouldn’t let them talk, saying it was bad luck or some nonsense.

Jade wanted to tell them that the marriage was doomed anyway, but she couldn’t. Remembering she had a text message, she looked at her phone. It was from Drew.

Hey, future-Mrs.-me, how’s the prep going?
You having fun with the girls?

She smiled and typed her response, that she just wanted the day to be over. She hated lying to her friends and family, and this was going to be the biggest lie she’d ever told in her life. As much as it upset her father, Jade was thankful the wedding wasn’t going to be in a church. If she had to lie to her friends and family, at least she wasn’t doing it in a place of worship.

“Is that Drew?” Clare asked.

Jared sprayed hairspray all around her in a circle, and she coughed.

“Maybe.”

“Pammy, grab her phone. No communicating with Dream Guy!”

Pam held her hand out with a stern look on her face. Jade hit send before passing the phone to Pam.

“What if my parents or Cassandra call?” she asked.

“We’ll screen your calls. Everyone but Drew gets through.”

Jade rolled her eyes but accepted the terms. She knew her friends were just excited that she was finally getting married. After the bachelorette party, they’d confided in her that just before she told them about Drew, they were thinking of making her an online dating profile because she, in their words,
seriously needed to get loved up
.

Not that marrying Drew was going to help Jade with that, but they had good intentions.

The door opened again, and Cassandra came in. “The boys are on schedule. How are you girls going?” she asked, forgoing a greeting.

“I’m done,” Jade said, relieved that she wouldn’t get yelled at.

Cassandra had called her every day over the past few weeks, berating her for not having things finished, not making decisions, and not being on time. She was glad she’d finally done something right.

“The bridesmaids have no makeup,” she said, not praising Jade at all.

“I’m on my way right now,” Pam said, and she ran out of the room.

“I was late because I had to pick up Jade’s parents from the airport,” Clare said.

It was actually quite amusing how everyone spoke in short, clipped sentences to Cassandra, as if using superfluous words would annoy her. In truth, they probably would.

“Well, we can at least take some casual shots for Twitter. Getting ready, behind-the-scenes type shots. The media will love that.” Cassandra pulled out her cell phone and pointed it at Jade.

The flash went off, and Jade blinked. “Hey, I wasn’t ready.”

“Even better. Have you been using the wedding hashtag?” Cassandra asked as she typed into her phone.

“You have a wedding
hashtag?”
Jared asked, looking impressed.

“Yeah, um, I don’t really tweet that much,” Jade admitted.

Cassandra frowned.

“But I can send one right now! Oh, wait, Pam has my phone.”

“Use mine.” Clare handed her phone over, and Jade opened the Twitter app, logging into her account.

She quickly typed out a message and hit send.

@JadePratt89 Prepping for my wedding to @TheRealMalikJr. T minus 2hrs & counting. #DrewAndJade #wedding

Cassandra’s phone pinged, and she nodded her approval. “Very nice, Jade. Try and keep it up throughout the day. We want this hashtag to trend. Drew has already sent several tweets this morning.”

“Sounds like Drew is the teacher’s pet,” Jared said, winking at Jade.

She wasn’t sure why her wedding was such a media event. Sure, Aaron was famous, but Drew wasn’t really. Yes, he smiled for paparazzi when he was out clubbing, but he wasn’t an actor himself. She guessed people were just seduced by his lifestyle.

“Clare, you’re all done. Off to makeup with you,” Jared said, patting her ass as she stood up.

“Jade, we’ll go and get your dress sorted out and then get some professional photos done,” Cassandra said. “The photographer should be here in about fifteen minutes. Our bridesmaids can come join us when their makeup is finished.”

Jade followed Cassandra into the dressing room of the salon and saw her finished dress hanging on the wall. She hadn’t actually seen it completed. Cassandra had been furious with her when she’d missed the final fitting, but she couldn’t get away from work on time because the other girl who played Ariel had called in sick, causing Jade to have to ride the afternoon parade.

“I just pray to heaven that it fits,” Cassandra said, fussing over the skirts as Jade stepped into the dress.

Cassandra fastened the back and fluffed the train.

“Thank the Lord. It would have been a disaster if you’d put on any weight in the past two weeks.”

Jade wanted to thank her for her trust, but she held her tongue. Instead, she twirled around and watched the material swish in the mirror.

“I want to wear this every day,” she declared, looking over her shoulder at the way the dip in the back of the dress made her waist look small and her hips look curved.

“With how much you paid for it, you might want to,” Cassandra said with a laugh.

“Drew’s parents paid for the wedding. I actually have no idea how much anything cost.”

Cassandra pursed her lips and then leaned in close to Jade’s ear. “This dress was twelve thousand,” she whispered.

Jade gasped. “That can’t be right.”

“It is, my dear. I sent Laura the invoice.”

“But that’s ludicrous! I could buy a car for that money…and I’m only supposed to wear this
once?”

Cassandra laughed and wrapped her arm around Jade’s shoulder, looking at them both in the mirror. “You’ll get used to this extravagant lifestyle. Andrew grew up with it, and he’s used to living with certain luxuries. You’ll adapt. I give it a year before you won’t even think twice about spending a thousand dollars on a pair of shoes.”

Jade pulled up her skirts and looked at the white heels. “These were a thousand dollars?”

Cassandra laughed again and patted Jade’s shoulder. “You look lovely, dear. The vision of a bride. Shall we send out one last tweet before we get in the car?”

“All right.”

Jade posed, waiting for another photo, but Cassandra typed something quickly and sent it off, explaining that they didn’t want to show the final look as they could sell the photos to a magazine. There was a lot Jade had to learn about living in the public eye.

The door opened, and Pam and Clare came in, both all made up, carrying their ice blue dresses.

“Hurry up, girls. We’re ready to leave.”

Pam and Clare both stripped down and got into their gowns. Jade thought they looked lovely. Cassandra clicked photos of the three of them and texted them to Jade’s phone for her own private memories, but gave strict instructions that they weren’t to be sent out on social media.

There was a stretch limousine waiting for them outside, and they climbed in. It wasn’t far to the country club, which was why Cassandra had chosen that salon. A crowd of people waited outside the gates, and flashes burned through the windows as they proceeded up the driveway.

“So much for not having pictures,” Jade muttered.

“Don’t worry. This glass is mirrored. All they got were pictures of themselves,” Cassandra informed them, tapping on the window to her left.

A man with thick gray hair and a mustache waited by the door, and Jade squealed. It had been too long since she’d seen her father. The car pulled up, and when the driver opened the door, Jade pushed past Pam, climbing over her and hiking her skirts up.

She ran across the paved driveway and tackle-hugged her father.

“Daddy!” she squealed. “It’s so good to see you.” He smelled like peppermint and mothballs, just as she remembered. She breathed him in deeply.

“Well, look at my baby girl,” he said, looking her up and down. “You’re all grown up.”

“I’ve been grown up for a while now, Dad.”

“Twenty-four is still a baby!” he insisted.

“Yes, yes, lovely family reunion and all that, but we’re on a schedule here,” Cassandra said, pushing Jade and Greg toward the doors.

“Is Mom inside?” Jade asked her father, ignoring Cassandra’s words but still walking toward the building.

“Yes, she went in early to get us good seats.”

Jade laughed. “You both have reserved seating in the front row. She doesn’t have to save your seat.”

“We just wanted to be sure, sweetheart.”

“I love you, Dad.”

“Love you, munchkin.”

“I thought I was a big girl now?” she teased as they stepped inside and heard the chatter from the waiting guests.

“You’ll always be my munchkin, even when you have munchkins of your own.”

He kissed her cheek and threaded his arm through hers, turning toward the large double doors where they were about to enter.

Jade froze for a second. Babies? Her father was talking about her having babies? Well, of course he was, she scolded herself. She was getting
married
. It was only natural that he would be thinking about her starting a family. She chewed her lip, anxious that she was going to hurt her family with what she was doing.

Maybe this fake marriage idea was going to be a disaster, but there she was in a dress that cost a year’s rent, with a crowd full of people waiting. She couldn’t back out now.

Cassandra tut-tutted and shook her head. “Don’t ruin your lipstick.” She pulled a small tube out of her pocket and ran it over Jade’s lips. “All right, it’s a slow march. Remember the rehearsal. One-together-two-together. Please don’t rush down the aisle. Pam, you’re up first. Big smile.”

She pulled a two-way radio out of her pocket and mumbled, “We’re ready out here,” into the static. Immediately, the music in the next room changed to the wedding march.

Pam glanced over her shoulder and winked before stepping into the room. A few seconds later, Cassandra waved Clare forward, and she too disappeared into the room. Jade and her father stepped forward. Through the doors, she could make out the backs of people’s heads as they watched the bridesmaids walk up the aisle.

The music swelled, and Greg stepped forward into the doorway.

“You are the perfect bride,” Cassandra said and patted Jade’s ass as she walked past.

Everyone stood, and there were several hushed whispers as she walked down the aisle, her arm linked with her father’s. The room was lit with candles and smelled like a garden. There were flowers everywhere: large vases by the altar, bunches at the end of each row of seats, and even garlands tastefully wrapped around the chandeliers. Everyone smiled at her. She glanced at her dad out of the corner of her eye and saw the pride on his face, the high set of his shoulders. When she was a little girl, she would climb into his lap and talk to him about her wedding. She wanted flowers and a beautiful gown and her father to walk her down the aisle. Greg would laugh and hug his daughter tightly, promising to be there on her happy day with bells on.